Dodgers beat Red Sox 2-0

LOS ANGELES >> If the playoffs began today, Ricky Nolasco would probably be the fourth starter in the Dodgers’ rotation, a job that demands little of a pitcher in the postseason.

The playoffs are actually about five weeks away, but seem closer with the Dodgers leading the Arizona Diamondbacks by 10 1/2 games in the National League West.

Nolasco’s performance against the Boston Red Sox in a 2-0 Dodgers win Friday was at least a testament to the depth of the Dodgers’ rotation. At most, it was a possible World Series preview, a brisk pitcher’s duel between teams in opposite leagues that began the day in first place.

The Dodgers looked ready.

“When he gets in trouble he’s got another gear,” manager Don Mattingly said of Nolasco, who threw eight shutout innings to improve to 5-1 since joining the Dodgers. “He doesn’t seem to get rattled. He’s kept us in every game. He’s pitched well pretty much every game he’s been in.”

Nolasco allowed only a pair of singles and really only got in trouble once: a first-and-second, one-out jam in the fifth inning.

But after Nolasco hit Daniel Nava with a pitch and Stephen Drew singled, the right-hander from Rialto calmly got Will Middlebrooks to ground into a double play to end the fifth inning. Nolasco retired the final nine Boston batters he faced before handing the ball to closer Kenley Jansen.

Jansen struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth inning for his 22nd save.

The eight-inning effort matched Nolasco’s longest start of the season, a May 19 game when he was still pitching for the Marlins. The Dodgers traded Josh Wall, Steven Ames and Angel Sanchez to Miami for Nolasco on July 6.

Nolasco was only 5-8 this season, and 81-72 with a career 4.43 ERA, at the time of the trade. But Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez said that Friday’s performance was typical of the pitcher he played with from 2006-12.

“He keeps you in ballgames and gives you a chance to win the game,” Ramirez said. “I think that’s why we got him.”

Ramirez provided all the offense Friday, slugging a 1-2 fastball from John Lackey (8-11) over the right-center field fence in the fourth inning. The two-run home run was Ramirez’s 13th of the season and one of three hits against Lackey, who pitched an eight-inning complete game for Boston.

“(Lackey) was trying to quick-pitch me,” Ramirez said. “I got my foot down and had a good swing. Against a guy like him, you’ve got to wait for the mistake.”

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Crawford had the Dodgers’ other two hits and stole two bases against the team he played for from 2011 until he was traded -- along with Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto -- a year ago Sunday.

Crawford commanded attention leading up to the game with his blunt comments about his time in Boston, when he suffered through injuries and criticism after signing a seven-year, $142 million contract.

“Just to be out of that situation is the best thing to ever happen to me,” he told the Daily News recently.

But the game belonged to Nolasco from the first pitch. The right-hander said his fastball and slider were working well, and that he mixed in a curveball for good measure. Nolasco walked none and struck out six.

Even Lackey was complimentary of his counterpart, saying “he pitched great. Punched me out a couple times.”

Nolasco added to a remarkable streak of success for Dodgers starting pitchers. Since July 26, they’re 18-2 with a 1.77 ERA in 27 games. In 11 games during the streak, the Dodgers’ starter didn’t allow a run.

Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu have led the way all season. On Friday, Nolasco bolstered his bid to make his first postseason start, if the Dodgers need a fourth starter.

Having spent all those years with Nolasco in Miami, Ramirez is waiting to play his first playoff game too, something that seems destined to change soon.

Did this game feel like a preview?

“Definitely,” Ramirez said. “It was a full house today -- the cheers, it’s loud. It gets you pumped.”